Related articles

"Everyone said, 'Brace yourself, Lupita! Keep a granola bar in that clutch of yours!'" the actress tells
Vogue's Hamish Bowles during her first cover interview
for the fashion tome. "I didn't really understand what they meant, and it was only once it was past that I realized that my body had been holding on by a thread to get through this very intense experience."

Even a stash of cereal bars (does she keep them under the lengths of her Prada gowns or tucked inside her Ralph Lauren cape?) couldn't prepare the actress for the red carpet: It "feels like a war zone, except you cannot fly or fight; you just have to stand there and take it."

And despite a series of epic six-hour dress fittings with stylist Micaela Erlanger - "we'd just try, try, try, try, try, try, try" - Nyong'o still had the same gown fear that must plague a clumsy Jennifer Lawrence every time she steps out in a lengthy hem.

"Don't fall on those stairs!" she recalls thinking as she graced the Oscars stage (in
powder blue Prada)
to collect her Best Supporting Actress accolade; "it's not cute if you follow Jennifer Lawrence-it's not cute if you're the second one!"

Two of Nyongo's well received red carpet dresses (Ralph Lauren and Prada) from her first awards season

On another important gown in her life, the 31-year-old tells Bowles of the handcrafted prom dress she fashioned in order to graduate from the all-boys high school she attended in Nairobi - girls were only admitted into two advanced classes.

"It was a velvet miniskirt with a matching little top and an iridescent silver translucent fabric that flowed to the ground," Nyong'o recalls. "It was kind of ridiculous, but it was fabulous at the time".

Gracing her first Vogue cover in an equally fabulous Prada dress, we have no doubt a style savvy Nyong'o will tackle her next 'war zone' with the ease and grace of a seasoned professional. No granola bars needed.